We Love Weekends – Dec 6-8

Only two days of weekend? Feels like such a cheat after last week, and it doesn’t help that it looks like we’re going to get a ton of wet dumped on our heads Sunday. But we’re still going to get up to trouble, baby, and here’s what we have in mind.

Don: This weekend is family and festivities, even if those festivities are for someone who won’t understand them. Specifically for That Darned Baby, who is turning 1 and may need to start being referred to as That Darned Toddler. It’s more an event for us adults than for him and the other ankle biters, really, but either way it means prep and shenanigans. Mostly we’re doing our own baking but we’ve got one little guest coming with a serious egg allergy so we’re going to get him a vegan cupcake cakecup from Baked and Wired. We’re going to try to sneak in a visit to the Aurora Hills Women’s Club’s holiday boutique on Saturday morning before the Toddler Cakemessapalooza kick off. It’s our old neighborhood and we know someone involved in the planning but our major reason is they have the best hand-made to-order wreaths we’ve ever seen. With the weather looking craptacular the rest of the weekend will mean some indoor activities like museums or restaurants, or perhaps we’ll leave the boy with the parentals and go off for adult fun ourselves. I feel like there’s somewhere we could go get a drink on Sunday and maybe run into Fedward, but what’s the name of that place again? He mentions it so rarely.

Patrick: Friday I will be kicking off my weekend writing up my review of “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” over at Arena Stage. Saturday I’ll be getting decorating running costumes with Katie and Rebecca for Sunday’s Jingle All the Way 8K. I may be wearing red tight-like things on my legs. They count as pants right? After I struggle to run that morning I’ll be brunching over at Ping Pong Dim Sum with my Asian friends. Because that’s what Asians do right?

Paul: I’ve only got one thing on my mind this weekend: the DC Craft Bartender’s Guild Repeal Day Ball, or, more specifically, how to survive the Repeal Day Ball. Last year I narrowly escaped on my 8am flight the next morning with a torn suit, massive headache, and a disturbing void of memories. There was something about drinking vodka on the rocks with Tony Abou-Ganim (dude, my roommate still has your flask, BTW) then it all went downhill from there. This year I’m going to be smart, I’m going in prepared. No spending 20 minutes at the absinthe table or tasting flights of cask strength scotch (cheers Ewan!). Instead I signed up for prep work, so I’ll be busy juicing citrus (which is a great way to find out that you have little tiny cuts all over your hands that you otherwise wouldn’t notice), cutting ice and doing all the grunt work. Hopefully I’ll get some face time with you lovely attendees and won’t be spending the entire evening batching drinks behind closed doors. The idea of me working LUPEC DC’s table was bandied about, but the thought of all the drag and chest-shaving that would be necessary to fit in with the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails seems a bit too steep a price for some much coveted floor time. Who knows? I’ve got two days to say goodbye to my young Burt Reynolds look.

Rachel: Another fun one ahead. Heading all the way out to Haymarket, VA to checkout the 4410 Open Mic which will feature my ukulele playing friend Louisa Hall on Friday night. Then Saturday, I’m heading to a holiday party in Rosslyn but if I can make it in time I’m gonna head on over to the Black Cat for the first-ever 9 Songwriter Series show featuring FULL BANDS. They’ve got a stacked line-up of local acts that you’d be foolish to miss.

Tom: CHRISTMAS TREE TIME! We’re headed up to Tastee Diner in Silver Spring, then up to Butler’s Orchard for to get us a Christmas Tree and a cider donut. It’s also our good pal Harris’ first birthday party this weekend, so we’ll be hanging in Arlington with the Whitesides to celebrate. Sunday I’m getting in the festive season with Falls Church Presbyterian’s Chancel Choir. After that, I may sneak down to the Downtown Holiday Market for some Christmas shopping, assuming we’re not all under a ton of snow by then.

Fedward: Like Paul, the Social Chair and I will also be doing our best to survive the Repeal Day Ball. Pro tip: weigh the length of the coat check line against the cold snap that will arrive right around the end of the party. This year, for the first time, the Social Chair will be working at the LUPEC table. I’ve been assured she’ll have some time to wander around and split some drinks with me, but I’ll have to be careful not to overdo it without my trusted companion.  Our other weekend plans are to get a Christmas tree at the annual Bancroft Elementary sale and to recover from the Ball. It goes without saying that the Passenger’s hangover brunch would cure what will almost certainly ail us, but it remains to be seen whether we’ll be able to make it out of the house.

Jenn: If you haven’t already figured it out, several of us at WLDC will be attending or working the DC Craft Bartenders Guild Repeal Day Ball this Saturday. Held at the historic (and mildly creepy, in that perfect old Victorian manse way) Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, this is the party’s 6th year, honoring the 80th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Featuring some of the top bartenders in the city, with sparkling conversations fueled by cocktails galore, it’s always my favorite party. This year will feature two tables dedicated to LUPEC DC, our local chapter of the national women’s cocktail society. I’m very proud to be a founding member and will be there to help spread the word about women behind the bar. Attending a blast of a party Saturday night means Sunday looks quiet…but it also means Friday should be spent in training! Perhaps a visit to Daikaya’s upstairs bar to see what beverage director Lukas Smith can teach me about his phenomenal house made tonic (ah, wormwood!), or a plate of nettle pasta at Iron Gate‘s gorgeous carriageway bar (and trust me, talk to wine director Brent Kroll about some of his incredible wines). Who cares about wintry mix and foul weather? It’s looking to be a lovely weekend.

Rebecca: I’m trying to get my Holiday shopping wrapped up ASAP and with just a few items left I’m off to Union Market to grab a nice glass of wine from Righteous Cheese and peruse the offerings. Saturday I’ll be at Maddy’s Taproom on 13th (official Mizzou bar) to watch my beloved Tigers take on Auburn in the SEC Championship game. Great beer. Great food. Great atmosphere. Great teams. Should be an awesome game. Sunday I’m up early to don my Holiday Squirrel costume and run with Patrick, Katie and a bunch of weirdly decorated other friends at the Jingle All the Way 8K. We’ll be recovering post run with a boozy brunch at Tel’Veh Café and Wine Bar.

Esther:  I’m gettin’ my holiday on this weekend!  Now that December is upon us, and I have an itching to hear Jingle Bells at least 13,436 times, I am spending my weekend at National Harbor as they celebrate Christmas in full glory.  Starting on Friday, I will don my ugliest sweater and head to Bobby McKeys for Armed Forces & Ugly Sweater Appreciation night.  Whether they are appreciating ugly sweaters or just the Armed Forces is unclear, but I will be there with my blinking Rudolph sweater nevertheless to enjoy $5 happy hour specials.  For dessert, I will head over to the Peeps & Company store for free peepster cookies and hot chocolate during their weekly Friday night holiday festivities.  While I am there, I may have to invest in marshmallow-bunny shaped mittens so I’ll be warm during the nightly holiday entertainment, harbor light show and fireworks.  Saturday will find me back at National Harbor continuing the winter festivities, starting with a stroll through their holiday market, finding everything I need to deck my halls and fill my belly with Christmas treats.  Also filling his belly like a bowl full of jelly will be Santa, who is going to be riding the carousel from noon to 2 pm and then working off the treats with a triple axle at  National Harbor’s brand new Ice Rink from 2 to 4 pm.  After assuring Santa that I have been a good girl this year, I will prove it by offering to buy him dinner at Stonewall Kitchen where Chef Marco will be doing cooking demonstrations and have his Italian culinary creations available for sampling.  Finally, I will attempt to complete my Christmas shopping at the more than 40 retail shops in National Harbor and hope at least one of them will be playing holiday music.  I need my Feliz Navidad fix.

Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.

Hmm, guess I just did.

My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.

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